Several months ago, I was approached by an artist to collaborate on a song. He expressed that he liked my sound, but I don't think that he was fully sold on a collaboration. He said that if I was interested I could write the hook for a song that he already had music for. Well, as soon as I heard it I knew exactly what I wanted to write. I wasn't sure that he'd love it, but I knew that I did. Well, it only took him minutes before he wrote back and said that he wanted to do the song with me. My very first collaboration.
I've been wanting to collab for a while. It pushes you outside of your comfort zone and challenges you to accept other ideas and sometimes (when the project isn't 100% yours) the finished project. That's not to say that I'm not pleased with the outcome because I am. It's just that when you do things on your own you call all the shots, but you also have to accept full responsibility when maybe a wrong shot was called. It also pushes you into genres that you wouldn't ordinarily consider. As some of you may know, I started off the year singing gospel blues (I'm not done yet), veered off into blues/rock/hip hop, took a stroll down the family music lane (if you haven't seen our holiday music videos check them out on Youtube) and am now in some sort of hip hop bluesy country space. (I know I'm all over the place but I wouldn't be me if I wasn't.) Honestly, I love all music and would work with anyone --eh almost anyone--as long as our core values and message align. Plus, who wouldn't want to collaborate with another artist with a completely different following that would be exposed to your voice?
Oh, I forgot to mention that I have never met the artist. He's in upstate New York and I'm currently somewhere in Southern California. Thanks to modern technology we can make things happen regardless of location. I recorded my part from the RV (of course) and he recorded his from home. Together, I believe, we made some good music.
If anyone is ever interested in collaborating, reach out and let's talk!